PetroChina preparing to build large underground gas storage in Xinjiang

Apr 06, 2011 12:00 AM

PetroChina will soon start building a 4 bn cm underground natural gas storage in north-western Xinjiang, the 1st major storage facility for its massive 2nd West-to-East gas pipeline that takes the fuel from Central Asia. The Hutubi gas storage, neighbouring Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, will be constructed in 2 phases in a period of 4 years.PetroChina's Xinjiang Oilfield Company will drill 30 gas injecting and extracting wells and the 1st demonstration project in Hutubi is scheduled to begin storing gas by June 2012.

PetroChina's 2nd West-to-East pipeline, receiving at least 30-bcm gas annually from Turkmenistan at the Chinese border of Khorgos via a nearly 2,000 km Central Asia pipe, is designed to pump the fuel further eastward and southward to Chinese cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hongkong. The western section of the 2nd West-to-East pipeline, which runs from Xinjiang to Ningxia region, was put into operation in late 2009 and part of the eastern section was able to transport gas soon after.